Nutter weekend...

No Regrets

No Regrets

Well-Known Member
Joined
9 Jul 2007
Messages
8,330
Visit site
Oh what a lovely trip we had to Shepperton!

Nearly all the locks the 'right way round' and managed to cadge moorings for five boats.

However, one of our friends witnessed waterskiing at Windsor, another saw 'Bad Boys' being hooned around, and on our homeward trip, an unnamed Bayliner being driven by a couple of tattooed thugs planing past Laleham whilst towing a tender!

Oh, and upstream of Windsor, at least two more unnamed speedboats up on the plane by the Racecourse jetty, whilst kids were playing and swimming in the water.

So much for EA speed checks. A total fail IMHO...

Lockies were aware of these complaints by several other people by the time we got through too!!

And before the usual 'denial people' chip in with their do-good comments, an 18' Bayliner is doing around 18kts before it planes. This is not a negotiable speed, it's taking the pi55...
 
Riverleak said:
Never see any EA patrol boats out anywhere on the river especially at weekends, perhaps we should start a spot an EA boat sticky thread?
Click to expand...

Agreed, I could cope with them not being in the right place, but my bet is they ain't in any place.

Any of the following on a weekend would catch them
Runnymede
Datchet
Just upstream of Windsor
Cliveden
COOKHAM
Henley
 
No Regrets said:
Oh what a lovely trip we had to Shepperton!

Nearly all the locks the 'right way round' and managed to cadge moorings for five boats.

However, one of our friends witnessed waterskiing at Windsor, another saw 'Bad Boys' being hooned around, and on our homeward trip, an unnamed Bayliner being driven by a couple of tattooed thugs planing past Laleham whilst towing a tender!

Oh, and upstream of Windsor, at least two more unnamed speedboats up on the plane by the Racecourse jetty, whilst kids were playing and swimming in the water.

So much for EA speed checks. A total fail IMHO...

Lockies were aware of these complaints by several other people by the time we got through too!!

And before the usual 'denial people' chip in with their do-good comments, an 18' Bayliner is doing around 18kts before it planes. This is not a negotiable speed, it's taking the pi55...
Click to expand...

did you post a passage plan, i mean its white knuckle stuff out the in the Non tidal Thames ;)
 
Not to mention the swimmers ....

I had to shout at an eight at twickers who was about to take out a kid swimming across. I only saw him as I was higher up in cockpit. Cox was quite shaken.

Never seen so many swimmers.
 
No Regrets said:
And before the usual 'denial people' chip in with their do-good comments, an 18' Bayliner is doing around 18kts before it planes. This is not a negotiable speed, it's taking the pi55...
Click to expand...

Not disagreeing with the wrongs of speed, however as the owner of an 18' Bayliner, it planes at 13Knots. Clearly 13 knots is too fast for the Thames, and no we were not on your stretch of the Thames ;)

At 18 knots our boat is planing well and you can wakeboard, ringo and kneeboard happily (in an appropriate place!)
 
apollo said:
Agreed, I could cope with them not being in the right place, but my bet is they ain't in any place.

Any of the following on a weekend would catch them
Runnymede
Datchet
Just upstream of Windsor
Cliveden
COOKHAM
Henley
Click to expand...

EA passed us whilst moored at Cliveden on Sunday. Shame they didn't spot the small cruiser with engine off and just hanging in the middle of the river while they took turns to swim.
In Boulters lock some youths in a little red hire boat decided to shoot out of the lock out of turn. when I called down to them they should leave in the order they entered they couldn't give a s**t.:mad:

Yellow Rinker speed boat passed us a few times at speed today at Windsor causing quite a wake for such a small boat. Later saw the boat moored up by the slip by the road bridge.:mad:
 
mlines said:
Not disagreeing with the wrongs of speed, however as the owner of an 18' Bayliner, it planes at 13Knots. Clearly 13 knots is too fast for the Thames, and no we were not on your stretch of the Thames ;)

At 18 knots our boat is planing well and you can wakeboard, ringo and kneeboard happily (in an appropriate place!)
Click to expand...

ANY planing hull will start planing at 12 and should be over the hump and fully planing at 13 knots.
 
hot weather

The hot weather brings out anything that floats. Few have a licence or for that matter insurance. I see it on any fine day especially since they put in the nice slipway on the lane that is my Western boundary. I am happy to say that over the past few days I have seen very little misbehaviour, I guess we have just been lucky.
 
Also, as a cox, it is difficult to see items directly in front of you. Coxes sit low in the boat and are usually considerably shorter than their rowers so can only see either side of them. Swimmers should stay near the banks or look out for themselves but they don"t!
 
There was a big Broom up between Shiplake & Sonning on Saturday........looked like 30'+....I wondered why he was just floating around on that long straight reach where Off Duty is moored......once we were about 100m past him I realised why: the roar of his engines made us all turn... bow up out of the water, full pelt......MASSIVE wash......impressive acceleration but what a to$$er.
 
For those who find converting knots to kph troublesome, 13 knots is a tad over 24 kph. The limit on the non-tidal Thames is 8 kph (4.32 kts).

:)
 
Ramage said:
What is truly scary is what could happen when the speed merchants fail to spot a swimmer.....
Click to expand...
On the Blackwater waay back in the 1970s I fished a 12 year old boy out minus his head. Neatly decapitated by a ski-boat. His head was never found. Another time off Calshot Spit a boat took off both feet of a man and one foot off his friend. The whole was witnessed as it happened by myself and the Coastguard on duty in the Tower.
 
3 EA boats were up at Henley for the weekend patrolling.

The speed merchants were causing havoc up there as well.

The swimmers seem to think it's better to swim across the river, sometimes they are barely visible I had to shout and use the horn at a few on Sunday!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top